Columns

A minister’s wife has made two requests from the Inspector General of Police – to afford her protection and also investigate corruption allegations against her husband. She has said in a letter to the Police Chief that she is being suspected over a letter which the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption has received. This letter is said to contain details of how the minister in question allegedly amassed wealth and the sources of his undeclared income.

The reason for her being suspected, the wife has said, was because some of the details in the letter were also there in the divorce papers she had filed in court. She has denied making any complaints to the Commission and has asked that protection be given to her to save her life. She also wants the Police to investigate the allegations.

It was only last week I revealed in these columns how one minister threatened to shoot a colleague and shoot himself thereafter. It was all over the non-inclusion of a progeny in a gentleman’s game or is it?

The axe falls on more and more trees

Owners whose land has been acquired for the Deduru Oya Reservoir Project in the Wariyapola and Ganewatte area are in for a windfall. The Government is to allow them to cut down kumbuk and mee trees and saw timber from them. The felling of such trees is to be completed before the end of the year, an official said yesterday.

The move is besides paying compensation to the owners for their lands being taken over for the project. It was only last week the Sunday Times revealed exclusively that the Government has decided to allow the felling of trees in state-owned plantations to pay EPF, ETF and other statutory dues of employees. The move covers plantations coming under the State Plantations Corporation, the Janatha Estates Development Board and the Elkaduwa Plantations Ltd.

Mervyn seeks Indian help to build kovil

Public Relations and Public Affairs Minister Mervyn Silva raised funds to build in Kelaniya, his electorate, a Vishnu Kovil dedicated to one of the most revered among the pantheon of Hindu gods. This week, he approached officials at the Indian High Commission in Colombo for assistance. He has said that he wants to build an extension.

Questions over minister’s Singapore oil deal

Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa proposed last month the purchase of 3.6 million barrels of Gas Oil (a type of fuel oil distilled from petroleum and heavier than paraffin oil) and 1.36 million barrels of gasoline from a Singapore supplier.

He told his ministerial colleagues that he was making this recommendation after “the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had received a government to government proposal” from Unipec Singapore Pte. Ltd.

The firm in question is a private one. Most ministers were puzzled as to how the offer came to be branded as a “government to government” deal. Minister Yapa had not explained it either. Petroleum purchases have been riddled with corruption for many years now.

President takes over SLF from PM

The Government will introduce amendments to the Sri Lanka Foundation Law. It will empower the President to appoint not less than seven and not more than nine persons to the Board of Management. At present the appointment of not less than ten and more than 15 persons is done by the Prime Minister. The PM also appoints the Chairman of the Board of Management which carries out affairs of the Foundation.

Under new amendments, the appointment of a Chairman will be done henceforth by the President. Among the new objectives of the Foundation are to be:

• The promotion of leadership and the inculcation of the qualities of leadership at all levels of Sri Lankan society;
• The promotion of education training research, in aspects relating to the economy and the overall requirements of Sri Lankan society;
• The promotion of Sri Lankan values based on the rich culture of Sri Lanka.

Britain’s ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour want to pressure the international community for an ‘international probe’ into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Opposition Labour Party shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander made the party’s position known when different Tamil Diaspora groups met him on Friday in London. He said: “2013 has been a significant year for Sri Lanka and the Tamil people. But 2014 could be a crucial year for accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, given the growing calls for an independent, international war crimes inquiry to be established. Labour is today urging the Prime Minister to immediately join our call for an international led inquiry into human rights and cut short the deadline of March 2014 that he has granted to President Rajapaksa.”

The group included those who met Prime Minister David Cameron before his departure to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Those who took part are: Varadar Varadakumar – Tamil Information Centre, Suren Surendiran – Global Tamil Forum, Sen Kandiah – Tamils for Labour, Janani Jananayakam – Tamils Against Genocide, Raj Vakesan – British Tamils Forum, Dr. Rajah – Chairman of Hindu Temples, Nathan Kumar – Tamils for Labour,
Krish Ratnasingham – Tamil National Alliance UK, Sutharshan Sukumaran – Tamil Youth and Francis Mariyathas – Tamils for Labour.

Ravi among first to meet new Maldivian President

Opposition UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake was among the first foreign politicians to meet Maldivian President Abdulla Yamin after he assumed office. He is seen here with his wife Mela at the Presidential Palace with the first couple of the Maldives at a dinner that was hosted for foreign dignitaries.

Rs. 21.6 m. more to build Jaffna prison

A Minister has sought Rs. 21.6 million more for the construction of a new prisons complex in Jaffna. In terms of construction work now under way, the Government decided earlier to spend Rs. 272 million and construction work got under way. Cost escalation is being given as the reason for the additional money.

The work is being carried out by the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau. According to Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, the existing prison complexes are located in rented buildings.

LECO plays phony games with regular blackouts 

Power failures in Nugegoda, Wijerama, Maharagama, Battaramulla and adjoining areas are so common, like night follows day.
For a week, power supplies are interrupted at least five to six times. When that happens, the telephone at the service centre goes off the hook. Consumers end up receiving an engaged tone whenever they call.

Last Thursday, the Western Provincial Council was in session at its building in Battaramulla. During a debate, power supply was interrupted 17 times. At one point, staff had to open all doors leading to the chamber to allow light to come in. It was decades ago that the late Anandatissa de Alwis, a Minister in the J.R. Jayewardene Cabinet, declared that power failures in the Kotte electorate, which he represented, were frequent then but would be a thing of the past.

Alas, the interruptions continue and now the phones at the Lanka Electricity Company also conveniently go dead.